Farmers urged to report incidents of Fall Army Worm (FAW)

The Limpopo Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is thanking the farmers and other stakeholders in the province who are reporting incidents of Fall Army Worm (FAW).

The spokesperson for the department, Mr Selby Mokgotho, said FAW was first detected in the province in early 2017 and caused damage primarily in maize, sorghum and about 70 other host species. FAW is an exotic pest that had its origin in central America and its moths can fly thousands of kilometres in a short period of time and mostly fly according to the direction of the wind.

"In this current maize-planting season, farmers and other stakeholders from affected areas started reporting FAW incidences, which were confirmed by local agricultural technicians and monitoring trap catches placed in some of these areas," said Mokgotho. The areas where the pest occur are Mutale, Matangari, Thohoyandou, Mashamba, Niani in the Vhembe district, Lulekani, Nwamitwa and Hoedspruit in the Mopani district, Thabazimbi, Bela Bela, Mookgopong, Mokgalakwena in the Waterberg district, Polokwane in the Capricorn district and Groblersdal in the Sekhukhune district

He said affected farmers were therefore advised to report FAW incidences to their local agricultural offices immediately for assistance with identification, confirmation and management of the pest.

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